ConsolationStahlplaat (Displeased/Repulse Records)By: Jeb BraninApparently this is some kind of concept album that tells the story of a boring old fart of a man who decides to break up the mundaneness of his life by beginning a reign of terror aimed at earning him a place in hell. Sounds pretty cheesy to me but fortunately enough the storyline in no way interferes with the bands bread and butter which is making caustic and powerful death grind. Their fury and cacophony is not toned down for anything more than a few moments throughout the entire disc. The guitars are staccato bursts of raucous distortion and the rhythms are pounded out with the enthusiasm of a coroner putting the final nails in a coffin. The vocals mix death grunts with hyperactive barks and shouts all executed in the finest of grind traditions. There are even some clean vocals present but only as flavorings for the more bitter voices. CONSOLATION are definitely trying to do something different with this album but I'm not convinced that the thematic approach is what allows them to do that. In fact I would dare say that his album succeeds in being a masterful grind recording in spite of the theme, not because of it.